She's What!
by gawilliams
Summary: What if Bones begins dating Booth's Supervisor? Contains Cam's, Angela's, Hodgins', Sweet's, Booth's, and Bones' viewpoints.
1. Chapter 1

_This is something that I did a lot of thinking about last night and decided to do based on the blurb I read about Bones dating Booth's supervisor in an upcoming episode. This assumes a lot, but I wanted to do a journal style one shot in which Booth, Bones, Cam, Hodgins, Angela, and Sweets have an opinion on it all. I have the feeling that the only one who will be positive about it will be Bones, but I have a specific reason for her doing so that may or may not be what TPTB are trying to accomplish. I admit up front that I am not terribly happy about this development in the series for a variety of reasons, so this story may be colored by that to an extent. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

**Excerpt from the Journal of Jack Hodgins:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

_..._

_This is not good. How can Dr. B be so dense? I mean she has always been pretty slow on the uptake when it comes to interpersonal relations, but this has disaster written all over it. I thought that the trip to Guatemala was pretty low considering that Booth was still not cleared for work, but this one is even lower than that. How could she think that after getting as close as they've been since Booth got back to work that he wouldn't be seriously fucked up over her actually dating his supervisor??? I only hope that when she comes to her senses and realizes what she's done that Booth is in a forgiving mood. After all her bullshit with Sully and then the two boyfriends disaster last year, the guy is probably at the end of his rope. I know I would be. Maybe I should call him up and offer to treat him to a beer and dinner at the sports bar. If nothing else it might keep him from dwelling on what Dr. B is doing tonight. If anyone would know if she's sleeping with the schmuck it would be Booth. Hopefully she's not, but God what a mess._

_..._

**Excerpt from the Journal of Dr. Camille Saroyan:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

...

_For one of the few times in my life, I think I've made a terrible mistake. When I warned Seeley about being careful with regards to Dr. Brennan, I didn't mean to send her a seriously mixed signal like he did. Now he's paying the price of listening to me, misguided though he was in what I was suggesting. I need to talk to the others at the lab and come up with a plan to deal with the near nuclear meltdown that's going to be coming our way if this dating between Dr. Brennan and Seeley's supervisor gets serious, such as if she starts sleeping with him. If I had known that Seeley would make such a declaration and then make that horrible qualifier to it, I would have kept my mouth shut. I'll never forgive myself if I've forever ruined whatever chance Seeley and Dr. Brennan had to really be happy together._

_..._

**Excerpt from the Journal of Angela Montenegro:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

...

_How could Booth have been so stupid??? Does the man have any balls whatsoever? Bren was waiting for him and when he shattered her with that "'Atta Girl sorta way" comment I wanted to castrate him. Now Bren is making an even worse mistake and if looks could kill, Booth's supervisor would be in the morgue right now. And that supervisor. Who the Hell does he think he is? I don't know of anyone at the FBI or here who doesn't know that Booth and Bren are off limits. Does the guy have a death wish? After Sully hurt Bren the way he did by leaving, if this guy does anything that even comes close to disappointing her Booth will have the guy in the hospital before the day's out. I may be upset at Booth for precipitating this, but I'm really disappointed in Bren. She's hurting the one guy who would never knowingly hurt her, despite what he did a few weeks ago. She and I are going to be having a serious discussion about this tomorrow. If need be I'll call Max and have him lay a serious guilt trip on her. After that I need to speak to Booth. I'll beg if I have to, but I have to convince him not to give up on Bren._

…

**Excerpt from the Journal of Dr. Lance Sweets:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

…

_Agent Booth is going to kill me. I'm to blame for him not proceeding with his feelings for Dr. Brennan. What's worse, I lied to him about those scans. From a psychological standpoint he needed to back off and not make such sweeping changes in his relationship with Dr. Brennan until he is fully back to health. His continual issues of altered perception and also changed personality quirks and traits made this the worst possible time for him to begin a serious relationship with Dr. Brennan. Now Dr. Brennan has decided to pursue a dating relationship with another man, and that man works at the FBI. In addition to that the man in question is Booth's supervisor. If I've permanently ruined whatever chance that Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan had of being together, which I actually support, and Booth finds out what I've done, then I can kiss my professional life at the FBI goodbye, and almost assuredly I will be spending time in intensive care recovering from the serious ass kicking he will inflict on me. I am so screwed._

…

**Excerpt from the Journal of Special Agent Seeley Booth:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

…

_Am I ever going to learn? I opened the door for Sully almost three years ago when I drew that fucking line, and now I've opened another door for some other bastard when I qualified my love for her. I was so damn STUPID! Now I'm going to have to watch her date some other guy, again, and once more it's someone I work with. Right now if I had a chance of getting away with it I'd line up Camille and Sweets in front of a wall and conduct my own one man firing squad on them for putting those doubts in my head. And Bones! How could she do this to me? I'm not talking about dating. I made that a likely occurrence by my own cowardice, so I can't argue with her. But doesn't she know that by dating anyone who I work with at the FBI is like kicking me in the balls over and over? Right now I don't know what to think. What really is bringing me down is that for the first time since I have ever met her, I am seriously doubting her feelings for me. I was so sure that she loves me, and I still think she does, but this whole mess is making me have doubts. Bones needs someone who she can count on no matter what, and I want to be that person, but I don't know how much more I can take, despite it being my own damn fault once again._

…

**Excerpt from the Journal of Dr. Temperance Brennan:**

_Oct. 18, 2009:_

…

_I know I've hurt Booth, but I don't have any choice if he is ever going to push beyond whatever is keeping him from being honest with me about how he really feels. When his supervisor asked me out on a date I took the opportunity. I'm not sure if this will work, or destroy any chance Booth and I have ever had, but I'm tired of Booth's reticence and confused signals. I'm also lonely. I don't know if I'll have sex with this guy, but whether I do or not, at least I'll be moving forward, with Booth and also with someone on a more personal basis. I just wish the cost wasn't so high. I also know that I'm going to be confronted with an angry Angela tomorrow morning. I just hope this forces Booth beyond whatever is holding him back and he confronts me with what we both want. Maybe he'll also realize just how much his "'Atta Girl Sorta Way" truly hurt me. I know that sounds petty and selfish, but he did hurt me deeply when he said those words after telling me what I've been wanting to hear for a long time._

…

_A/N: I made this one composed of short entries in what appears to be longer journal entries for each person so that it gives the impression that they write a great deal about their days and not just on one item or another. In this way I can have more room to work with and a more natural feel to the journals. As I said above, this is a one shot to vent over what I feel is a very shortsighted and wrong decision on the part of TPTB to have Bones date Booth's supervisor. Granted the episode hasn't been aired yet, but I was too worked up over it and my mind wouldn't let the subject rest until then. I hope you all enjoy this one. Gregg._


	2. Chapter 2

_After several requests, both in reviews and from others who read the story yesterday privately, I have decided to have three more chapters in this one that continues the essence of the first, but moves into prose instead of the journal format. The real action, and takeoff point into some likely AU territory is from this point on. I couldn't let them stay the way they were, of course. I hope that you all enjoy them. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. _

Angela strode through the busy bullpen that housed Booth's section at FBI headquarters and marched right into his office. Booth looked seriously hungover, and she knew without a doubt that Jack had succeeded in cajoling the Special Agent into going out for dinner and drinks. She decided to make a point and stepped in, slamming the door behind her. That caught his attention! Booth nearly jumped out of his skin and pressed his hands to his pounding temples. She didn't hesitate to pounce.

"What the HELL were you thinking?!" she demanded loudly.

"Just kill me now so I can begin my time in Purgatory," Booth groaned. He hadn't been this horribly hungover since he'd been in college. He'd spent almost eight hours out with Hodgins doing Tequila shooters with beer chasers. He may have had a few Harvey Wall Bangers thrown in there, too, but he wasn't sure. Hell, he wasn't too sure about anything at the moment. How he'd dragged his sorry ass into work this morning was also a mystery.

"Oh no, you coward," Angela said heatedly. "You don't get to skip out of your mess that easily."

"I don't wanna talk about this Angela," he said with a wince. His head was pounding severely and her yelling wasn't helping.

"Tough shit, Numb Nuts," she shot back, just as loudly as before. "You created this mess, and now we're going to fix it. What the Hell ever possessed you to tell Bren you love her, and then add in some lame ass qualifier??? And why the HELL aren't you fighting for what's yours and making it DAMN clear to this loser that he has no business squatting in on your territory? And who the FUCK does he think he is? Everyone knows that the two of you are off limits."

Booth wanted to simply start beating his head against his desk. It would distract him from the near migraine proportions of his headache, but that would still leave Angela here ready to castrate him. He decided that some honesty would be the best way to get this raving loon off his ass. Ordinarily he liked Angela, but in this mood she was a loon. At least to him. He'd apologize for thinking such a thing later. He explained about his conversation with Cam to start with.

"That only makes sense, Booth," Angela pointed out. "What's the real reason?"

Booth sighed. "Sweets showed me some scans of my brain and told me that they indicated that I didn't love Bones before the surgery and now I do. He said that means that I don't really love her, so it would be a real mistake to get involved with her," he explained.

Angela wanted to scream. She wanted to hit someone and make someone scream in pain. "Stay right here," she ordered bluntly and stormed out of Booth's office. She made her way to the back elevators, not caring about the curious stares that were following her. She went down two floors and seethed the entire way to Sweets' office. When she reached it she saw that he was in a session with a patient, but that didn't matter to her. She flung his door open, shocking Sweets and the person he was in session with to no end. She angrily went right to him and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him to his feet.

"Session's over honey," she told the lady. She turned her head to Sweets. "As for you, we're going to Booth's office and have a little chat." As she said that she started dragging him out of the office by the ear and didn't let go even when they reached the elevators.

Sweets was in pain. His ear felt like it was being ripped off, and, to make matters worse, she was actually tightening her grip on him. He was being publicly humiliated and he knew that there was only one possible reason for this. Somehow she knew what he'd done. Now he was being taken to Booth's office where he was sure to be killed. He mentally reviewed his metaphorical house to make sure all was in order, and breathed a terrified sigh of relief that his will was up to date. He could at least go to his early grave knowing he'd been prepared.

Angela practically threw the poor young man into Booth's office where Numb Nuts was sitting holding his head looking for all the world as if he just wanted to take cyanide and end the suffering. She slammed the door again, once more pleased to note the cringe on Booth's face as she did so, and let it rip.

"Listen up you two," she began to rant. "I don't want to hear any excuses, or any lame ass attempts at rationalization. You, Numb Nuts, were just plain stupid. No ifs, ands, or buts about it." She whirled on Sweets. "And you, Dr. No Nads, were interfering with something that you had no business getting involved in. And don't give me any bullshit about scans. What you told Booth is like Bren's bullshit about love being simply a chemical reaction with a variety of hormonal influences thrown in."

"Actually..." Sweets started to interject.

"Save it, Dweeb," Angela cut him off instantly. "It's pure bullshit. Now give Booth the real reason you were trying to get him to tread lightly."

Sweets gulped. He took a look at Booth who was now beginning to suspect something and was looking as if daggers were about to come shooting out of his eyes. Quickly, and without taking his eyes off of Booth, he explained his reasoning.

As the explanation came out Booth began to feel an anger burn in him that was reaching a slow boil. He'd had problems with Sweets in the past, and had never really forgiven him for leaving Bones out of the look when his death had been faked, but his was beyond any semblance of proper. As someone who valued honesty and integrity, this was simply too far over the line to even consider having a decent response.

"Sweets," he said through grated teeth. "Get out."

"Huh?" Sweets asked since the request didn't have a closed fist attached to the punctuation.

"Get out before I hurl you through the fucking wall," Booth ground out slowly and with a very deadly tone. "And _if_ Bones and I ever come to any more sessions with you, you and I will be having a little chat beforehand about what you can and can't discuss with us."

Sweets nodded and rushed out of there as quickly as he could, thinking that it was a pure, God given miracle that he'd left the office standing and not on a stretcher. As soon as he got to his office he intended on making an appointment to speak with his therapist.

Meanwhile Angela had calmed down and was talking with Booth instead of chewing his ass out. It was a different conversation.

"Now that you know what happened, I have only one question, Booth," she said to her friend.

"What's that?" he asked miserably. He couldn't believe that this was happening because he listened to Sweets instead of what he knew to be true.

"Are you willing to be patient and not give up on Bren?" she asked. That was her greatest fear. Bren had no idea how dangerous this latest fling really was. She may not have slept with Booth's supervisor on the first date, and for that Angela was eternally thankful, but this was possibly Sully all over again and Angela was doubtful if Booth would tolerate it for long. If Booth gave up, it would shatter Bren.

"I just don't know," Booth replied honestly. "I know it's selfish, and that this time, just like with Sully, it's my own damn fault, but dating my boss? I haven't been this hungover since I was in college, Angela. That should be a pretty good indicator of how I'm feeling right now."

"I know I came on strong a little bit ago, but I'm asking you, Booth. Don't give up just yet," she pleaded. "Just so you know, I'm going from here to have a little talk with Bren. It won't be pretty, and I'm sure that neither of us will be in a good frame of mind when it's over, but I intend on making her see reason. If I can set it up, will you sit down with her and talk to her? And this time be completely honest with her? I don't think you realize just how much damage you did to her emotionally when you lied a few weeks ago."

"I could see it in her eyes," Booth said quietly. "But what could I do? What if Sweets had been right? Can you imagine how much I would be hurting her if I got my head on straight and didn't still love her and we'd already started something?"

"I don't deny that she would be hurt, but at least she could accept it because you were being honest," Angela countered. "Or you could have told her that you love her, but before you can really have a full relationship, you need to make sure that you're all back together again. She would have understood that and waited for you."

"So you think this is salvageable?" he asked, clearly depressed. The conversation, and prior ass chewing, had helped, but he was still seriously down about this turn of events. He just couldn't understand how Bones could do this.

"My talk with Bren won't be pretty, but I think I can get her to see reason and sit down to talk to you about what's going on," Angela told him. She stood up and looked down on him. "But if you two do sit down to talk about this, you'd better be completely honest. No more dancing around this and if I find out either of you say anything about a line or any other such nonsense I'll send my dad after you. Got it?"

Booth shuddered. He remembered what Billy had done to Hodgins the previous Spring and had no desire to face that kind of revenge. "Got it," he told her with solemn intent. He watched her walk out of his office, closing the door hard, but at least not slamming it. He turned back to his desk to drink some more coffee and have another aspirin. He just wanted this whole fucking nightmare over with.

_A/N: So there's Angela's "talk" with Booth and Sweets. Next up will be her "discussion" with Bones. I hope that you all enjoyed this one. Gregg._


	3. Chapter 3

_The response from the second chapter has been fabulous and I thank everyone who has read or read and reviewed this story so far. This chapter deals with Angela's "discussion" with Bones now that she's dealt with Booth and Sweets. This one is a little disturbing as I wanted to have as much anger involved as possible, so the result will be good, but not necessarily the image. I hope that this one works for everyone. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Angela walked purposefully into the lab area of the Jeffersonian and made a beeline towards Jack. She had a small bone to pick with him before confronting Bren. She smirked a bit as she saw that he was nearly as hung over as Booth was.

"Jack!" she hissed angrily when she got to his side. The groan from the ailing bug and slime guy was music to her ears.

"Can you hold it down some?" he asked. His head felt like it was about to explode.

"That's what you get for drinking like that," she told him at the same volume. "I'm going to say this once, Skippy. If you ever take Booth out and get him drunk like that ever again, I'll cut off Mr. Happy and feed it to you. We'll see if being a Eunuch will give you more sense!"

"Right now I'm so miserable I don't care if Mr. Happy is there or not," he said as his head made contact with the work bench and a low groan of pain escaped his lips.

Angela leaned in close. "And then I'd send my Dad over to have a friendly little chat with you," she added with clear menace.

"I swear to GOD that I will never drink again!" Hodgins declared and then promptly groaned. No way did he want to meet up with Billy again any time soon.

"See that you don't," Angela warned and then turned to head over to Bren's office where she had been told her friend was working on paperwork all morning. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the office and closed the door. She didn't slam it shut like she had Booth's, but the fact that she closed the door wouldn't be lost on Bren.

"Angela?" Bren asked as she looked up from the file that was on her desk.

"I'd just like to know one thing," Angela said with her voice rising. "When did my best friend decide to become a sadistic bitch?"

"I beg your pardon?" Bren asked in an arched tone as she stood up to confront Angela.

"You heard me," Angela said firmly. "And you know damn well what I'm talking about. What kind of sadistic bitch would go out with the supervisor of the man she's in love with?"

A cold rage came over Bren as she processed what had been said. She knew why Angela was upset, but that didn't give her the right to come in here and say what she'd said. "You don't know what is going on, Angela," Bren said evenly, reigning in her own anger, and also the hurt that her friend had said such things to her.

"I don't?" Angela questioned. "I know a hell of a lot more than you, obviously. Or do you happen to know that Booth is horribly hung over this morning and says that he hadn't gotten this drunk since he was in college? Or do you know that right now he's over there wondering if it's worth waiting for you this time? You hurt him in the most cruel way possible, Bren, and frankly it makes me and everyone who knows both of you sick."

Before she could even stop herself Bren slapped Angela, hard across the cheek. "What about me, Angela?!" Bren shouted. "What about when he hurt me? He lied to me and it hurt even more than when he didn't let me know he wasn't dead. It hurt because I was finally ready to hear someone tell me they love me."

"But why date someone he works with?" Angela demanded. "And better yet, what ever possessed you to go on a date with his boss?" She ignored the slap because she had said some things that would get almost anyone a slap across the face, or worse. Besides, she was hoping to get Bren angry. "This is Sully all over again."

"Booth had no problem with Sully," Bren lamely defended.

Angela laughed a morbid laugh. "Oh, God," she groaned. "And what planet are you on? Booth was furious that you were dating Sully! But he wants you to be happy more than anything in the world, and he loves you too much to go and break your heart by disapproving of something that by all outward appearances made you happy. But don't you dare think that it didn't crush him to see you with Sully, or any of the other men you've slept with or dated since then."

Bren's razer sharp mind was in turmoil over that. All along she had assumed that Booth was okay with the long ago relationship with Sully. Why else would he have encouraged her to go with Sully when the man asked her to sail away for a year? Could she have completely misread that and later situations? But she couldn't back down from Angela on this. She had a reason for going out with Booth's supervisor, though now she wished she had accepted a date from someone that Booth didn't know. It would have been a simple thing to make sure that Booth knew about it and push enough buttons to possibly shake the truth loose from him once and for all. She would wait for later, though, to deal with these emotions.

"There's a reason I'm doing this," she retorted. It sounded dreadfully ridiculous even to her own ears, so she didn't expect Angela to simply accept it at that, so when Angela replied, she wasn't surprised. Her anger was still there, but she could at least apologize to Angela when all this was over.

"Explain it to me," Angela demanded.

"I want Booth to tell me he loves me," Bones explained. "Something's holding him back, and after a few weeks of working to make him feel comfortable around me after all that happened the last few months, I decided to accept a date when it was offered so that maybe Booth would react and tell me how he really feels."

"Do you know how childish that sounds?" Angela asked. "You're playing games, Bren. It was bad enough when you took off for Guatemala before Booth was back to work and well, but to play like this with his emotions? That's low, Bren."

"The Doctors said he would be able to go back to work in a few days," Bren defended herself on that one.

"Do you think for a minute that if the situation was reversed that Booth would have gone to another country before you were back to work and healthy?" Angela demanded in a very angry tone. "Do you think that maybe, just maybe, Booth has a reason for what he did a few weeks ago? You're risking it all by playing this game, Bren, and Booth right now is beginning to question whether its worth waiting for you this time."

That startled Bren right to her core. Booth had always been there for her, and now Angela was suggesting that this incident may destroy that? She couldn't let that happen. Booth was her foundation and her anchor. Regardless of how angry she was over his having qualified his words a few weeks before, she was still in love with him and wanted him. There was only one thing she could do and that was to break it off with this new man. That and sit down and have an honest talk with Booth. It was time to find out what was going on.

Angela saw the immediate change in Bren's demeanor and knew that the other woman was scared to death at the possibility of Booth not being there for her anymore. She would deal with Bren's having slapped her later on when both of them were thinking straight. Maybe an expensive all expenses paid day at a luxury spa. That would make up for it easily. Once she saw that Bren had calmed down and accepted what a colossal move this had all been, she made her pitch.

"If I can convince him, would you be willing to sit down with Booth and talk this out?" she asked. "I mean honestly, Bren. No more talk about partners and lines. Just two people who really do love each other being honest with each other for the first time about it."

"I can have him over for dinner," Bren suggested. She felt so down at the moment over how much her actions had apparently hurt Booth, much more than she was ever trying to do to him as all she had wanted was for him to confront her. It was beginning to dawn on her how much of a mistake she had been making for so many years with Booth by skirting the issue and finding solace with other men in her bed. Her reality had caught up to her, not her catching up to reality. It was that difference that made this so painful to think about.

Angela shook her head. "No, Bren," she told her. "This needs to be done somewhere in public so neither of you can simply close yourself off by telling the other to leave either of your places. It's going to hurt, Bren, to listen to him explain how much the last three years have hurt, just like it's going to be painful for him to listen to you explain how much his line hurt you, and how horrible you felt when he qualified his love. No one should have an advantage in such a conversation."

"What would you suggest," Bren asked, seriously. She was lost at the moment, and having a difficult time focusing as she was more concerned about how this whole thing had gotten so out of hand.

"Pick out your favorite restaurant where you can have a back corner table and some privacy," Angela suggested. "Make the reservations and then let me call Booth and let him know the arrangements."

"What if he doesn't want to speak to me?" Bren asked, saying aloud one of her greatest fears.

"I've already had a short conversation with him this morning," Angela told her. "He'll come and talk. You just have to be honest. That's all."

"Give me an hour to make the arrangements," Bren said firmly, now happy that a definite course of action had been decided upon.

Angela got up and walked over to the door, but stopped before opening it and turned back to look at Bren. "Two things, Bren," she said. "The next time you see Sweets, call him 'Dr. No Nads' and when this is all straightened out we can talk about you making it up to me for slapping me a bit ago."

Bren sighed, but had to admit that slapping Angela, no matter how angry the other woman had made her, was wrong. "A day at a luxury spa?" she asked.

Angela smiled. "Done!"

"Why Dr. No Nads?" Bren asked. She understood the term No Nads, so that was no problem, even if she did think it was a bit crude. But why use it with reference to Sweets?

"Let Booth tell you," Angela told her. "I think you'll agree that it's appropriate. I need to get some work done, Bren. Just make sure you fix this, and no more fucking games. Got it?"

"I got it, Ange," Bones replied as she sat down. When Angela had gone, she looked over at the picture she had of Booth on her desk, separate from the other pictures she had on there. "How do we make such a mess of things?" she asked the image. Maybe it was time for complete honesty, though she could have done without Angela ripping her a new one. She smiled, realizing that she had finally found a use for that phrase that Booth always used. Yeah. Definitely time.

_A/N: I had thought about having them leave the room angry at each other, but ultimately decided not to as the logic of the points Angela was making would prevent the ever logical Bones from being angry beyond the conversation. There's one more chapter left to write and that one is the conversation between Booth and Bones. Bones will also find out why Sweets is Dr. No Nads and also possibly deal with the kid herself. Who knows? Hope you all enjoyed this one. Gregg._


	4. Chapter 4

_This is the final chapter for this story. In this one the anger is there between them, but they also realize that they have to temper that with the realization that mistakes have been made and if they want to accomplish the result they both have wanted, a rational discussion is necessary. I'm glad that everyone liked the story and I hope that you'll enjoy the work being done on the other stories I am writing just as much. Thanks for the great reviews. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones and Booth arrived separately, but at almost the same time, at the restaurant that Bones had made reservations for. It was a quiet, small restaurant in Alexandria with the perfect ambiance for a somewhat personal conversation. The table she had requested was in the back and somewhat hidden from public view. She didn't know how this was going to work out, but at least she had chosen a good location. Neutral territory Angela had mentioned. This fit that description very well.

All afternoon Bones had been in a highly agitated state. Angela's anger and the points she had made had been deeply felt. The idea that she had hurt Booth so much, not just with this issue, but so many others in the past three years, was very unsettling. In looking back she had to admit that Booth had been much more of a gentleman than she had ever given him credit for. When he had told her that his short lived fling with Cam was none of her business, he hadn't been saying it to put her in her place, but, rather, he had been exercising that discretion that made him who he was. His discomfort about discussing sex was now seen by her in an entirely new light. Instead of being embarrassed by it, he was actually showing, or trying to show her, that there were more appropriate times and venues for such discussions.

She had also ended the relationship with Booth's supervisor. She'd called him and told him that while he was nice, she was not really comfortable dating Booth's Boss. He'd been as understanding as possible, though she could detect a bit of disappointment in his voice. No doubt he'd heard of her and her predilection for dealing with her "urges" from other men who knew of her and had wanted to be included in the list of men who had "helped" in the past. At least she could go into this conversation having removed the obstacle that she now knew would have been a major miscalculation on her part. That didn't mean that she would let Booth off the hook. He'd hurt her, too, and needed to know it. She took a seat at the table and ordered a carafe of wine, taking a sip when it arrived.

Booth arrived a few minutes late for the dinner. He'd gotten a phone call from Parker as he was leaving his apartment to come over here, and he just couldn't tell his son to call back. When he'd finally alleviated the massive headache that morning, he'd actually been able to get some work done. Then Angela had called him and let him know about the dinner that Bones wanted to have with him that evening. That had been followed by another serious lecture on the consequences that would befall him if he screwed this one up. A mental image of Billy, a desert, and a tattoo needle flashed through his head and he'd promised to go and never sin again. Maybe that last was a bit much, but fucking things up with Bones once more was a sin of the highest magnitude in his opinion. When he entered the restaurant he immediately saw Bones sitting at a table in the back and told the hostess know that he was expected and that his party was already seated. He made his way carefully towards the table and when Bones looked up he saw something that he had only seen once or twice since meeting her: nervousness.

"Hi, Bones," he said when he stepped up to the table.

Bones looked up and saw him. He was here and she was at a loss as to what to say. She'd felt so horrible all afternoon she hadn't really thought what to say when she was with him. She stood up. "Hi, Booth," she told him as she gestured to the seat across from her.

Booth took a seat and sighed. It was time to face the music for his own words that had led to this mess. "So, I assume Angela talked with you, too?" he asked somewhat rhetorically. He was still recovering from the ass chewing Angela had dished out to him in his office that morning.

"I owe her a day at a luxury spa for slapping her," Bones admitted. She had a difficult time looking up at Booth considering what had led to this moment. "Why did you lie to me?" she asked, not really wanting to waste any time, and especially not on talking about Angela.

Booth didn't like the sudden plunge into that discussion, but he knew that Bones wouldn't let them be sidetracked from it for long. He swirled the red wine in his goblet, pondering how best to answer that question. Finally he said the only thing he could. "Because I was lying about being back 100%, and telling you that I love you without the certainty that I was all there was too much of a risk," he told her.

"Risk of what?" she demanded. She felt her temper rising for some reason, but she worked to keep it in check until she understood what he was saying. Was he saying that to love her was to take a risk? Could he be validating all those fears she'd had for so long about the whole idea of love? What about what Angela had told her? Where was the Booth that supposedly loved her so much?

Booth could see that she was getting upset. "The risk of losing you if I made a mistake because of my fucked up memory," he revealed.

"You've risked that by lying to me, Booth," she shot back. She was at once angry and confused. She was well aware that he was not himself, and hadn't been since she got back from Guatemala, but just how off was he?

"I can see that now," he admitted. He leaned back in his chair. "The truth is I pushed Sweets to sign off on me coming back to work, and maybe I should have taken some more time."

"Then why didn't you?" she asked, though given the glares and statements of disapproval she'd gotten from Angela and some others over her trip to Guatemala, she had an idea.

"Because I was going stir crazy and you being gone didn't help," he told her. He knew that a little of his own anger and hurt feelings over her going on that dig were coming through in the words and tone, but he needed her to understand that he had some things to work out.

"But I was led to believe that you would be back to work in a few days," she pointed out, though she knew it sounded very pathetic given the seriousness of what he had gone through.

"I would have canceled any trips or assignments if the situation had been reversed," he said softly, letting the real hurt show through.

"Angela said the same thing," Bones admitted.

"Seems Angela's been doing a lot of talking lately," Booth observed with a half smile. He could do without Angela's ire, but he had to admit he needed that swift kick in the ass. "Let me ask you something, Bones."

"Okay," she nodded. She had a damn good idea what he was going to ask.

"I know that you dating someone was likely, considering what I said a few weeks ago, but why the Hell did you decide to go out with my supervisor?" he asked. He kept his voice calm and neutral because he did not want to cause any more problems by coming across as angry and demanding.

She slumped slightly. The question was a valid one, and one that sooner or later she was going to have to answer, but she'd already spent the afternoon beating herself up over the issue and now she would have to discuss it with him.

"I knew you lied that night when you qualified your statement that you love me," she told him. "I was really hurt by that, Booth. For the first time that I can remember, I was actually ready to hear those words from someone. Then you lied and I felt like I was being abandoned all over again, even though you were still physically here. The last few weeks we've actually made progress on some issues that I think have always held us back to some degree, but still you were holding back. Even an honest conversation where you laid it all out and asked for time to find yourself would have sufficed. But it's also become painfully obvious that unless pushed, you won't discuss it with me. So when your supervisor asked me out, while surprised, I decided to accept and hoped that you would react and confront me."

"But my Boss, Bones," Booth groaned.

"I never knew you didn't like it when I dated Sully, Booth," Bones told him. "I never knew you were angry when I dated anyone. Essentially you've lied to me for years about the one thing that we should have been able to be honest about."

"What about you, Bones?" he asked. He knew she was absolutely right. He had lied for a long time, even though it was on just the one subject.

"What about me?" she asked.

"You never said anything about the Line I drew, and now I find that you never agreed with it, and Sully and every guy afterward was a way to deal with it," he replied. "It may not be a direct lie, Bones, but a lie of omission is still a lie."

"It may not seem like it, Booth, but when you say something about how things should be professionally, I take you very seriously," she told him. "I may not like it, and I may ask questions, but I do follow your lead. When you drew a line, I felt horrible, I admit. I wanted to see if there was something between us that we could explore, but you foreclosed that. I won't ignore my sexual urges and need for physical intimacy as I wait for you to change your mind, if that ever were to happen. The fact that I haven't slept with a man since I had the two boyfriends over a year ago is only because I saw us getting closer to what I was hoping for, and also because I wanted to rebuild our friendship after I hurt you so bad during the incident with Jared."

"So you haven't slept with my supervisor?" Booth asked, knowing he sounded like a real shit for asking that question.

"No," Bones replied honestly. "I won't say I didn't consider it, as I've already acknowledged that it has been over a year since I last had sex, but I did not have sex with him on the first date. And to let you know, there won't be anymore dates. I let him know this afternoon that I won't be seeing him anymore." She paused before asking a question that had bothered her since Angela had confronted her that afternoon. "Would you have given up on me over this?" she asked, a nervous, almost fear laden tone pervading her voice.

Booth had to force himself to answer that one, especially given the emotion behind the question that he picked up on. "I really don't know, Bones," he finally replied. "I mean, professionally we're solid and that won't change, but personally? It doesn't feel right being such close friends with someone who was so willing to date my boss, and also who is willing to admit she loves me, which your whole explanation implies. You say I hurt you with the line, but you hurt me just as much with Sully and all those others, and now this."

Bones, for whom specificity was important, noticed the very specific implications of the words he used and couldn't help but ask. "Does that mean you've already given up?"

"No," Booth admitted to her. "I spent most of today, when I wasn't wishing I was dead from the hangover I had, thinking about all of this, and what Angela threatened me with if I fucked this up again. The one thing that came back to me the whole time is that I can't be happy anymore without you in my life. You're my best friend, Bones, and outside of Parker no one means more to me than you do. But I can't deal with this kind of stuff anymore."

For her part, a massive weight had been lifted that had been on her shoulders since Angela told her that Booth was having doubts about being there for her anymore. The complete adoration that Booth showered on Parker was something that she loved about him, and to hear him place her in that general category was a balm to her bruised emotions. She decided to be honest with him.

"After you drew that line, I spent a lot of time being with men, starting with Sully, to try and ignore how much you had hurt me with the line," she revealed. "No man I've been with has been able to equal you, though. As I've said, I haven't been with a man since I tried to juggle two boyfriends a year ago, and I won't insult your intelligence by saying that I am comfortable without having a sexual component in my life. I really don't know how far this would have gone with your supervisor. Maybe we would have slept together, maybe not. After my 'talk' with Angela I ended it. As to why him, I don't really think I thought about it. He asked, and I accepted. You slept with Cam when she first started working at the Jeffersonian, so perhaps I felt that it was a similar situation."

Booth groaned. He had known that someday his dalliance with Cam would come back to haunt him, and now it had. "So where do we go from here?" he asked. He knew that they had a lot more to work out and discuss between them, but that could be done over time. Right now he needed to know if the idea of being together had been salvaged.

"Even though I know we've hurt each other and made each other very angry, Booth, I think that that depends on you," Bones said after a moments reflection. "I need to know what you feel about me, honestly. I want a straight forward answer, not one that's qualified. I am genuinely ready to hear something specific, but you have to say it. I won't say it first."

That caught Booth's attention like a lightening bolt. There was only one thing that she could be referring to, and he knew that he had to do this right. Images of waking up in the desert with a few new tattoos courtesy of Billy swiftly ran before his eyes, so there was no room for error on this one.

"I love you, Bones," he said directly. He didn't add a word.

Bones didn't smile, though inside she was extremely happy and relieved. "Do you want us to be together in a relationship?" she pressed.

"Yes," he replied. Again he was direct and no extraneous elements were added.

"I love you, too, Booth," she said with a smile that was widening as she said the words. "And I want us to be together in a relationship, as well."

"I'm really sorry I hurt you like I did, Bones," Booth told her with a really soft undertone to his voice that conveyed just how horrible he felt about it.

"We both have a great deal to be sorry about, Booth, beginning with you drawing that line three years ago, and ending with me accepting a date with your supervisor," Bones replied, dulling the blade of sorrow that both felt very deeply. "I just have one question," she continued.

"What's that?" Booth asked.

"Why does Angela want me to call Sweets Dr. No Nads?" she asked.

Booth smiled, the grimaced. He explained about what Sweets had done and how Angela had dragged the little pimple down to his office and really laid into both of them. He could see Bones getting extremely angry as he told the tale, and ended it with his threat to hurl Sweets through the wall in his office if he didn't get out.

"I know exactly what we're going to do about Dr. No Nads," Bones said with a positively evil smile.

"You mean I get to be a part of it?" Booth perked up. He liked this turn of events.

"Of course," Bones said as she reached over and took a hold of his hand. Their food arrived just as she did so. "You are my partner, and boyfriend, aren't you?"

"Definitely, Bones," Booth said as he slipped his hand form hers and looked down at the fabulous meal.

The next morning Sweets walked to the door of his office and did a double take. The nameplate on the door didn't read **Dr. Lance Sweets** like it always did. In it's place was a new one that read **Dr. Lance "No Nads" Sweets**. He had a sinking feeling about all of this. The guard at the front desk that handed him his security badge had been in awfully good humor. He quickly held up the badge that was on necklace badge holder. He groaned in mental agony. In the spot for his name was also written **Dr. Lance "No Nads" Sweets**. He removed the nameplate from the holder on the door quickly and shoved it into his pocket. Sweets then went to his desk and sat down, wondering what else had been done to him. He knew right away when he saw his notepads and also his official stationary all had the new, and downright offensive, name plastered on them. Then he said a note on the top of his desk, with Dr. Brennan's letterhead on it.

_Dr. Sweets,_

_I am now fully aware of what you said and did to Booth. You should be warned that I am very angry over this intrusion into our lives. Your new nameplate, badge, and letterheads are only a taste of what I will do if you ever try and interfere like this again. If I feel that you are not behaving in an honest, and professional, manner from this moment on, I will inform Booth as to what your real reasons were for not informing me that his death had been faked. I will also forward that information to the psychiatric licensing boards that have licensed you to practice your soft science. You have crossed a line, Dr. Sweets, and my patience is at an end. Booth and I will continue to come to our sessions for the moment, but you are being scrutinized by both of us._

_Dr. Temperance Brennan_

Sweets reread the note and almost passed out. He was still alive, thankfully, but he knew it had to have been a close call. He picked up the phone and made an appointment for another lengthy session with his own therapist. Sweets had a feeling that he would be making a lot of visits in the next few weeks.

_A/N: There it is. Sorry about the delay, but I wanted this one just right. I know some may want it to continue, but I felt it would be wiser to let it end here and then deal with the other elements of their relationship in other stories that I have ongoing, such as Booth's Lie. I want to thank everyone for the great reviews and continuing support. I hope you all enjoyed this one as well. Gregg._


End file.
